Fibreglass Lining & Moulding

Fibreglass Grating & Safety Flooring

Surface Preparation & Coatings

Sui Generis International Ltd.

Tel: 01206 798 798 email: info@suigeneris.co.uk

GRP Play Areas & Outdoor Seating

"Sui Generis have been brilliant, interpreting our ideas
and delivering the project against a tight timescale"

Hazel Rounding
Lead Architect ShedKM

Sui Generis & Fort Dunlop

The world famous Fort Dunlop building, in Birmingham, has been brought back to life by Manchester-based developers Urban Splash and architects shedKM. The iconic former tyre warehouse has been converted into a mix of commercial, leisure and retail space, including a flagship Travelodge hotel.

As part of this ground-breaking regeneration project, architects shedKM commissioned Sui Generis to manufacture two giant play structures and external seating for the exterior of the new-look building. shedKM director Hazel Rounding said: "It was vital that Fort Dunlop was redeveloped through a design-led approach that respected the existing building yet inserted modern elements where appropriate. We'd been asked to look at a number of external additions to the Fort Dunlop building. We knew what we wanted to achieve but didn't know if we could do that with GRP. We came to Sui Generis pretty late in the day and are really grateful to them for fitting us into their manufacturing schedule. We are really pleased with the outcome!"

Temporarily installed on the 6th floor, in time for the grand opening of the newly refurbished Fort Dunlop complex, the GRP play boats will ultimately serve as self-contained play areas for the créche and will be connected to the building via prefabricated link tunnels.

The orange structures have a high external gloss finish and measure 20m x 7m. Each boat comprises eight compound curved panels and thirteen curved panels, seven of which incorporate a 450mm diameter port hole.

Mould under production
Mould under production		 Preparation of mould
Preparation of mould
First sections in production
First sections in production		 Sections awaiting dispatch
Sections awaiting dispatch
Sections awaiting installation
Sections awaiting installation		 First section installed
First section installed
Installation well underway
Installation well underway		 Porthole sections
Porthole sections
Final finishing
Final finishing		 Architect's impression
Architect's impression
Final finishing
In final position
Final finishing
 		 Architect's impression
 

GRP Seating

The project also involved the creation of a number of funky square seating units, for the rear of the building. Like all other parts of the project, shedKM had a clear vision for the seating. The idea was that they sit as objects around the trees, very clear objects in the landscape. Hazel Rounding explains: "Everything we had put into the building was a clear insertion and the seats were no different in this respect."

Installation of outdoor seating commences
Installation of GRP seating commences		 Number one nearly complete - 19 to go!
Number one nearly complete - 19 to go!
Final finishing in progress
Final finishing in progress		 All seating completed
All seating completed
A bird'seye view!
A bird'seye view!

More funky GRP Furniture for Fort Dunlop


 

 
 

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